VENTURA COUNTY ROUNDUP | Oxnard

Parolee Charged in Woman's Death

A 25-year-old Oxnard parolee has been charged in the April stabbing death of a 41-year-old mother of four, the Ventura County district attorney's office reported Tuesday.

Cruz Belman Alcantar, who has two prior serious felony convictions, including repeated sexual abuse of a child under 14, faces a third strike and life in prison if convicted in the current case, authorities said.

Alcantar was charged Tuesday with murder and use of a deadly weapon. Arraignment was scheduled for Thursday in Superior Court.

Alcantar has been held without bail since his arrest a day after the April 24 killing.

According to authorities, Anna Mendez Ramirez met Alcantar at an Oxnard bar April 23 and the pair were seen leaving together. About 5 a.m. the next day, a resident walking on Colonia Road found Ramirez dead on a sidewalk, authorities said.

Her throat had been slashed and there were stab wounds to her chest, authorities said. They said she was clothed in only a shirt or jacket, and a knife believed to have been used in the killing was found near the body.

Oxnard detectives were tipped to the make and model of Alcantar's vehicle and arrested him a day after the killing as he was walking near his home, a few blocks from where the body was found.

Ramirez, a mother of four, rented a room in La Colonia and spent her days baby-sitting her grandchildren, authorities said.